Environmental association demands better service from MPM

MORANT BAY, St. Thomas:

THE ST. THOMAS Environment Protection Association (STEPA) is demanding better quality service from Metropolitan Parks and Markets, the state agency responsible for the collection and disposal of solid waste.

STEPA president, Oneil Blake, says collections by garbage trucks in some areas of St. Thomas are infrequent and haphazard, and as such the system was unacceptable.

Collections are only done once per fortnight in areas such as New Monkeland, Trinityville, Cedar Valley and surrounding areas, said Mr. Blake.

Somerset, a district with over 2,000 residents, has no system of garbage collection. Residents dispose of the garbage themselves, and the waste usually ends up in rivers and gullies, resulting in blocked drains and a polluted environment, notes the STEPA head.

At the same time, residents of Lyssons, Retreat and Prospect complained that sometimes their garbage is not collected for periods of up to three weeks.

The Gleaner understands that the St. Thomas Parish Council wrote to MPM informing them about the problems and was told that the disturbance in Kingston hampered collection and caused a backlog. Night collections were promised, to clear the backlog, but this has not been done.

MPM was invited to send a representative to the last Council meeting to brief the councillors, but none showed up.

The Council has now decided to withhold payments to MPM until the parish sees significant improvement in the collections.

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